Auburn passes on UCLA because of full schedule, but would consider the Bruins down the road
Posted by Charles Goldberg -- Birmingham News April 15, 2009 12:56 PM

Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs said Wednesday a proposed made-for-TV Auburn-UCLA football game in 2010 didn't get off the ground because the Tigers already have a full schedule and didn't want to give up a home game.
Jacobs said he would ``love to play UCLA'' in 2012 when Auburn has a hole in its schedule.

The Los Angeles Times reported and Jacobs confirmed that ABC/ESPN called Auburn and UCLA in the last two weeks to see if they'd be interested in playing a game at the Georgia Dome. Jacobs told the network no, primarily because it would reduce the home schedule from eight games to seven, that he was not interested in breaking any existing contracts and because Auburn begins a home-and-home series with Clemson that year.
``I told them we'd love to play UCLA, possibly in 2012 when we don't have 12 games. That was the extent of the conversation. Those talks go on all the time,'' Jacobs said.
``We talk every year with ESPN to help us get games. They helped us with Washington State, Kansas State; they had their hands in West Virginia. They are great partners and always helped us.
``We've told them, `We're going to play one BCS team a year, how can you help us?'''
Auburn played BCS power West Virginia last season and will again this year. Clemson rolls on the schedule in 2010 and 2011. ``We're looking for a good team because we don't have that natural non-conference rival, like Georgia has Georgia Tech,'' Jacobs said. ``We're looking for another game that our players can get excited about and one that will get our fans excited. We'd love to play UCLA at some point.
``If we were to give up a home game in 2010, that would mean in back-to-back seasons we would have only seven home games. That's not good for anybody. That's not good for our players, our fans or the Auburn area.''